Features
HALT keeps alumni connected to the college
By Jessica Tang '16
October 25, 2012
For many seniors, “What should I do now?” has been a common question. If anything, they may feel a bit like becoming first years in college, except this time, they are first years in the real world.
To ease this transition, Hamilton’s Class of 2003 established the Hamilton Alumni Leadership Training program (HALT). According to its site, HALT’s purpose is to “create a senior class leadership structure to introduce seniors to the ways they can stay actively involved in the life of the College after graduation.”
HALT Vice-Chair Stephanie Shapiro ’13 said that the program has the general goal of “fitting leaders of the senior class into where they will be as alumni.” A way in which program members work towards this goal is to connect seniors with areas on campus they would be interested in working with as graduates of the College. Shapiro mentioned that HALT members have staffed events such as Family Weekend, Alumni Weekend and Christmas break activities.
In addition to volunteer events, HALT also organizes monthly luncheons and guest speakers for alumni. According to Shapiro, Hamilton’s Vice President of the Office of Communications and Development (C&D) Dick Tantillo, said that C&D hopes that going to Hamilton becomes a “life sentence.” The office wants alumni to always be tied to the College, and strives for HALT students to be the alumni who, next year, offer jobs and hold welcoming parties for students of the graduating class after them.
Past guest speakers include Abby Taylor and Mary Evans from the Career Center, who taught HALT members how to use the online Alumni Directory, how the Career Center can help them and how to network. This professional development is another aspect HALT is involved in.
“After you graduate, almost any city you’re in, there’s going to be a welcome party set up by Hamilton alumni to welcome new grads. These kinds of events get people into that network before [current seniors] even graduate. That way, it’s not like the welcome party is the seniors’ first time talking with alumni. Once you figure out where your job is, you can go ahead and start contacting people, almost like getting on the bandwagon,” said Shapiro.
When asked about the benefits of HALT, Shapiro said, “Talking to some of my senior friends who did HALT last year, the program has helped them make connections. They’re only a year out of school and they’re already helping to throw parties and organize events for Hamilton grads and alumni.”
HALT organizes various special projects as well. One of these projects comes when STOP Day nears, a day in the spring when tuition essentially runs out. In response, HALT “organizes letter-writing and events to thank our alumni, parents, and friends of the College who are paying for the last third of the year,” Shapiro explained.
The primary form of communication HALT uses is email. Due to the fact that many members of HALT are currently working on their fall theses, the special projects they have planned with specific campus offices have not occurred yet. While the events that have occurred so far have been HALT-only events, program members will soon notify students about seniors-only and campus-wide events.
About ten percent of the senior class is part of HALT. Each new group of seniors is selected through an application process in which the outgoing group of HALT seniors considers the incoming group.
When asked about how HALT is different from the Alumni Council and the Alumni Recruitment Team, two groups whose goals are similar, Shapiro said, “The primary difference is that we’re students. We’re starting as seniors looking forward instead of alumni who have gotten out, and then wanted to get involved. We’re taking seniors who are already involved on campus and maintaining that so that when they graduate, it’s not that big of a transition from student to alumni, but more of a student leader to off-campus alumni leader.”
HALT is run through Hamilton’s C&D Office. Other members of the HALT Executive Board are Chair D. Knute Gailor, Philanthropy Chair Mihai Dohotaru, Programming Chair Charlotte Lescroart, and Recruiting and Placement Chair David Goldstein.
For further questions about HALT, email at halt@hamilton.edu.